Road to Invasion Attack

Road to Invasion Attack 2015

(cherry-picked)

3/21

Yohei Komatsu vs. Rocky Romero ***3/4 (killer little JIP match, they showed 6 out of 9 minutes, and it was all awesome, borderline great match; I’ve been dying to see Romero in a singles NJ competition for a long while now, so this was a helluva pleasant surprise)

Tetsuya Naito, Cpt. New Japan, Mascara Dorada vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Kenny Omega ***3/4 (another borderline great match, this was a very fun sprint with constant movement, something was happening all the time, Dorada and Omega chemistry looks promising, this was really fun)

NWA World Heavyweight Strap: Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan © ***3/4 (another very good match, this was a really entertaining clash of the longtime partners/friends/rivals/foes; both guys were over and both proved they aged tremendously; the match would’ve been slightly better with 3-4 minutes cut off, but that’s just nitpicking from my side)

Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata ***1/4 (another good tag, but not on the level of previous matches, although Tana/Yano was bitchin’, I’m really loving their feud)

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale **** (excellent main event, great effort from each competitor; Okada and AJ had a damn good match-up, then Okada moved onto Fale and it was also good, while the new centerpiece of the match became AJ vs. YOSHI-HASHI, and boy, it was fabulous, Y-H needs to be in the G1, in AJ’s block of course; such a fun match, with something for everyone, there was ringside brawling, some great teamwork, exciting atmosphere, etc.)

3/22

Rocky Romero, Baretta, Gedo vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson ***1/2 (the opening comedy was hit and miss, but once Gedo “took over” as a FIP, things got significantly better; enjoyable Junior sprint, action packed)

NWA World Jr. Strap: Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Liger © ***3/4 (just like Kojima/Tenzan, this was another really good match between the tag partners, Liger was selling his ass off in the first half when TM was going after his leg, it made for a focused and tight action; super enjoyable match with awesome finish)

Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI ***1/4 (quality tag with some solid brawling, another step closer to Okada/Fale rematch; Okada was a good FIP)

Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata ***3/4 (super fun all-star 8-man tag with nice, surprising finish; they’re building towards Goto/Nakamura and Shibata/Sakuraba)

Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito vs. AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi ***1/2 (fun Kota/AJ prelude; Yujiro looks solid teaming with AJ)

4/2

Yohei Komatsu vs. Sho Tanaka ***1/2 (a Tanaka/Komatsu match, which means it was very good)

Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Jay White ***1/2 (pretty neat action packed sprint where literally everyone looked good)

Bullet Club (Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Cody Hall) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata *** (good heavyweight sprint with constant movement and ass-kicking; Cody didn’t look good here)

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, YOSHI-HASHI ****1/2 (oh man, this was excellent, the best NJ Korakuen match since the last G1, just a totally vivid and highly energetic 10-man sprint, it was perfectly booked and everyone looked good/great; Yano kept running away from Tana and it made for some great slapstick comedy, I love this feud; Sakuraba and Shibata had their shooty stuff, Ishii and Makabe had their best exchanges so far, great heat there, Goto/Nakamura was stiff and did a good job in advancing the feud; and then there was a battle of jobbers, Y-H/Honma, they didn’t interact with each other too much but it was crystal clear one of them is eating the fall and fuck me, it made for a great drama; fantastic match in front of the fabulous Korakuen people)

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, Baretta) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson) ***1/2 (some unnecessary comedy aside, this was a damn fun 6-man tag, Okada/Fale chemistry was great and the Bucks threw few nasty superkicks, also the post-match brawl was a well done build to Invasion Attack)

Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito vs. AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi *** (a match just right to be good, it didn’t have the spark of the previous ones, plus the majority of it was by-the-numbers, plus there was the fucking Yujiro)